At home 111916

HOLIDAY DECORATING

All aglow

Saturday, November 19, 2016 An advertising feature of The Topeka Capital-Journal

Tips for hanging your Christmas lights, page 6 n Jamie Kidd on persimmons, page 2 n Preparing your home for winter, page 3 n Composting leaves for future use, page 5 n Thanksgiving table makeovers, page 7

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Holiday Fruits

Ripened persimmons add punch to autumn meals An old folk song, origin unknown and titled “Cotton Field Song” (Lomax and Lomax, 1934), illustrated the love of opossums and raccoons for persimmons: Possum in a ‘simmon tree, Raccoon on de groun’, Raccoon ask de possum To shake dem ‘simmons down.

If you haven’t eaten a persimmon in the fall, you are really missing something. They are one of the few fruits available as we near Thanksgiving.

Persimmons ripe from the tree are sweet and juicy. They also are wonderful in recipes for cookies, breads, puddings, sorbet, marmalade, candy, pies and ice cream, as well as frozen fruit. Hundreds of recipes are available online, just Google “persimmon recipes.” There is even a beer made from persimmons.

A word of caution: Persimmons that aren’t ripe, while not poisonous, taste very astringent.

John Smith wrote in 1612: “If it be not ripe it will drawe a mans mouth awrie, with much torment, but when it is ripe, it is

JAMIE KIDD

jamiehan@ksu.edu

as delicious as an Apricock.”

Also in 1612, William Strachey in “Historie of Travell into Virginia Britania” wrote: “When they are not fully ripe, they are harsh and choakie, and furre a man’s mouth like allam.”

Persimmons need to be soft ripe to keep from puckering the mouth.

Diospyros virginiana is a common persimmon found in the southern and eastern United States. It grows as far west as Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma and will tolerate temperatures of 20 to 25 degrees below zero. It is a small tree, but can reach a height of 40 to 50 feet. The fruit is round to oval and usually orange ranging to black in color.

The green calyx becomes enlarged, like on a strawberry, and is considered quite decorative.

The fruit size can vary from one-half to 2 inches in diameter. Persimmons aren’t true to seed, so grafting is used to develop consistent fruit size and flavor. Persimmons are dioecious — needing a male and female tree for pollination.

Diospyros virginiana never caught on as a horticultural crop, being eclipsed at the end of the 19th century by the Japanese kaki persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.). The kaki persimmon doesn’t tolerate the cold weather and grows best in zones 7-10.

Kaki fruit, at 3 to 4 inches in diameter, is larger than the common persimmon. This is the fruit you’re likely to get in stores. But if you find a persimmon tree growing in the wild around here, the fruit can be just as delicious.

Persimmon trees can grow in your yard. They tolerate just about any type of soil and prefer to grow in full sun. They take minimal care and fertilizing isn’t necessary. They do well with just the fertilizer you put on your lawn.

Pruning isn’t usually needed, except to repair

damage or limit tree size.

Thinning of heavy fruit crops may be necessary to ensure a decent crop the following year. Good varieties of Diospyros virginiana are Even Gold, John Rick, Woolbright, Miller, Killen and Ennis.

Persimmon wood has some interesting historical uses. It is a very hard, dense wood that can retain a smooth and polished surface under continuous wear, such as with shuttles for textile weaving. It was used for carpenter’s planes, chisel handles, screws, mallets, shoe lasts, wedges for splitting tree trunks and the shafts of carriages drawn by horses.

It was excellent for making gunstocks and as a firewood. The ashes were rich in alkali, which

was important in making soap. Persimmon wood was used to make buttons during the Civil War. The Southern Banner newspaper in 1863 suggested the buttons were very strong: “If you use them for buttons, the washer woman will hardly break them with her battling stick.”

The smoothness and density of persimmon wood and its resistance to mechanical shock make it very desirable for golf club heads, many of which are exported to Japan.

One last historical note.

As blockades were established against the Confederate states during the Civil War, the price of coffee rose to $10 to $15 per pound. D. Dodge, writing after the war in 1886, stated: “No priva-

tion caused more actual discomfort among the people at large than the want of (coffee).” Many things were used as substitutes, including chicory root, corn, cottonseed, dandelion seed, melon seed, okra seed, peanuts, rice, rye, sugar cane seed, sweet potatoes, toasted hard tack, wheat and persimmon seeds.

Many newspapers claimed persimmon coffee was as good as real coffee. It’s interesting what people will do for caffeine.

Find a nice soft persimmon in the store or in the field and give it a try. I think you will like it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Jamie Kidd is a horticulturist with K-State Research and Extension in Shawnee County.

homes.cjonline.com | The Topeka Capital-Journal | Saturday, November 19, 2016 | 3

Don’t put off preparing home for winter

By C. Dwight Barnett Tribune News Service

It’s been a warm fall, but don’t let the pleasant weather catch you off guard. It’s time to prepare your home for the winter weather to come.

■■Clean the exterior glass. As the weather cools it becomes more difficult to dry windows, because cold air can’t hold as much moisture as warm air and the glass will streak. You can clean interiorglass any time of the year.

■■Make sure gutters and downspouts are clean and that runoff water drains at least 6 feet from the foundation. Water that pools next to the foundation can seep to the interior of the crawlspace or basement.

■■Inspect and recaulk, if necessary, around all exterior window and door frames.

Loose or missing caulking allows air to penetrate the wall, which increases your utility costs. A typical home with no exterior caulking allows so much air to enter that it is like having a window open all year long.

■■Use a quality silicone caulk to seal cracks in all exterior concrete pads. Driveways, walks and most patios have “control joints” or lines purposely made in the concrete to control the cracking that will eventually occur.

Cracks that are open can absorb rain and snowmelt, and when the water refreezes, it can lift the concrete at the joint or cause the cracks to widen.

■■Inspect the crawlspace

area of the home by entering the crawl. If you are unable to crawl under your home, hire a licensed professional home inspector. Check for loose or missing insulation on the perimeter walls and rim joists. Make sure that all soils or gravel on the floor of the crawlspace are covered with a 6-mil or heavier plastic vapor barrier and that all seams are lapped and sealed with tape.

■■Check under the bathrooms and kitchen for signs of leaks or decay to the flooring. All ductwork should be taped and sealed at all joints and seams. Remove all debris from the crawlspace and insulate and add a seal to the crawlspace door.

■■If you have a woodburning appliance, make sure the chimney is inspect-

ed by a certified chimney sweep. A well-used chimney will need to be cleaned and inspected at least twice a year.

■■Remove outdoor hoses.

A hose left on an outdoor faucet can freeze and burst through the faucet supply pipe inside the home. You can check for a broken faucet by placing your thumb over the faucet to restrict water flow. If the flow stops, you have a broken faucet.

■■If you have a sprinkler or garden watering system, shut off the water supply and clear the lines using an air compressor blowing out one zone and then another.

If you don’t have the equipment, have the system winterized by a professional.

■■Check the insulation in the attic to make sure

it is sufficient. Your local building official or a home inspector can give you an estimate on the amount of insulation required in your area. Loose fill fiberglass insulation can be blown into piles by winds coming through the soffit vents, or loose fill insulations can be compressed and damaged by walking on the insulation. Workers in an attic often leave a trail where they have walked.

■■Evenly redistribute or add insulation where needed. Check for openings in the insulation where there are bulkheads on the interior of the home. A bulkhead is a dropped ceiling for kitchen and bathroom cabinets or over stairways.

You may find the vertical walls of the bulkheads are

exposed and opened to the cold attic air.

■■Change furnace filters every two to three months depending on the quality of the filter and the amount of dust in the environment where you live. A dirty filter can damage the furnace fan and increase your utility costs. Attach a “filter change” card to the furnace to record the date when the filter is changed. Note the airflow arrow on the filter and install the filter in the proper direction.

C. Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home improvement questions at C. Dwight Barnett, Evansville Courier & Press, P.O. Box 268, Evansville, Ind. 47702 or e-mail him at d.Barnett@ insightbb.com.

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‘‘

Nowadays, you have many options for kitchen water filters.

From wholehouse filters to add-on faucet filters and water pitchers with built-in filters, the choices can run across the board.”

Ed Del Grande

master contractor/plumber

Beverage faucets filter cold water

By Ed Del Grande Tribune News Service

Q: Dear Ed: We recently moved into a new home with completely updated kitchen plumbing. The refrigerator has a filtered water tap that we use constantly for cups of water. I would also like to cook with filtered water, but it would not be convenient to fill pots from the refrigerator.

What can be an easy upgrade to get filtered water at my kitchen sink without disrupting my existing fixtures?

— Patty, Florida A: Nowadays, you have

many options for kitchen water filters. From whole-house filters to add-on faucet filters and water pitchers with builtin filters, the choices can run across the board.

Over the years, I have also worked with beverage faucets. A beverage faucet is a specially designed cold water faucet that your plumber can mount next to your existing kitchen sink faucet.

An easy-access water filter cartridge is also installed under the sink that provides filtered water to the tap.

With this setup, you can continue to use your kitchen

faucet for your regular kitchen chores, and whenever you want filtered water, just switch to the beverage faucet.

A dedicated beverage faucet can cut down on cartridge changes as well, and that’s news that’s good to the last drop.

Master contractor/plumber Ed Del Grande is known internationally as the author of the book “Ed Del Grande’s House Call,” the host of TV and Internet shows, and a LEED green associate.

Visit eddelgrande.com or write eadelg@ cs.com. Always consult local contractors and codes.

Several faucet options exist that allow homeowners to get filtered water from their kitchen sinks.

KOHLER

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Corral all your leaves, family-style

By Maureen Gilmer Tribune News Service

Before the advent of commercial fertilizers, trees lived exclusively on what exists in the soil plus nutrients derived from decomposing leaf litter.

This demonstrates one of the problems with trees in the landscape: Their leaves are removed in the fall or raked periodically during the year. This interrupts the year-around decomposition process invented by nature to feed and protect the root system.

That is why gardeners are keen on gathering fall leaves to use in their gardens and landscapes in the future.

They are our most valuable home produced bio-resource that anyone can harvest.

What we try to do with autumn leaves is to collect them in a wire round or square corral. They get wet and packed down to begin decomposing over the com-

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Get your kids involved with corralling the leaves and make a fun day of it. Compost them for use next year. ing year. The result next summer or fall is a clean, soft dark material called leaf mold. It is black gold for mulching or to work into your new planting holes and vegetable garden soils without spending a penny.

Get the kids involved

The easiest way to get

started is to repurpose old woven wire fence, or use new chicken wire. Create a round circle and secure the ends together, then pound in a couple of stakes for stabilizers. You fill the corral with leaves in layers about a foot deep.

Throw in bio-active material like native soil, compost remnants, manures and any leftover organic fertilizers

from the current season.

Spoiled pelleted farm animal feeds can be used in a thin layer here, too. All of these enhance decomposition speed and increase fertility levels in the final product.

I have always recommended this corralling of the leaves as the ultimate family gardening project.

Here’s why. After each footdeep layer of leaves, drop the little kids in there to stomp it all down. Remove them, then water the surface to begin decomposition. Then add your manure or soil on top of the compressed layer.

Add the next foot of leaves, throw the kids back in, and start all over again. Repeat until the corral is full and nicely packed.

Watch out for conifers

It can take a year for fall leaves to decompose into mold, but in warmer winter climates, the process can be

a lot quicker. It also depends on what kinds of leaves you use. Those of most American street trees are great mold makers, but beware of conifers and some oaks, because their foliage can be very acidic. Eucalyptus and palm fronds aren’t recommended for this either.

You can make as many leaf mold bins as you have room for in out-of-the-way parts of the backyard. You don’t have to turn them like compost, but adding water during the dry season maintains more steady decomposition. When very hot, the rotting process grinds to a halt while in humid regions the rot goes into overtime.

Our contemporary way of gardening is dependent on pricey big-box bagged soils and amendments. Did you ever wonder how folks gardened without them in the old days? They created their own locally generated amendments that could be replaced by their own trees

and animals each year for free. Nothing went to waste.

Spoiled feed is utilized in a different way. It’s the sustainable solution to autumn leaves that frees you of stuffing it all into black plastic garbage bags before it blows away. And if you need to do it in phases, just rake or gather a layer at a time, adding more when you’re ready until the holidays arrive.

This is a concept you can pass down to your kids, and they’ll remember it big time.

Don’t lecture, just make sure they have a ball hopping on the leaves. Take pictures, get dirty and celebrate this gift of fertility. Corralling the leaves is a memory maker for the whole family. Make it your annual ritual of fall, when everyone gets in on yard clean-up day, then shares a wonderful meal together afterward.

Maureen Gilmer is an author, horticulturist and landscape designer.

Learn more at www.MoPlants.com.

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SEASONAL decor

FIGHTING LIGHTING? with

A holiday guide for putting together a festive Christmas light display

By Dustin Lemmon | Special to The Capital-Journal

H

oliday lights, both for your Christmas tree and outdoor displays, sure aren’t what they used to be.

There are LED lights that last longer, require less electricity, are generally safer and look better than the old electric bulbs of people’s childhoods.

“They’re also plastic, so you don’t have to worry about shattered bulbs,” said Jesson Ross, general manager at GreenTouch Lawn & Tree, 3530 S.E. 21st St. GreenTouch can be hired by local home and business owners to hang holiday lights. They can light the front — eaves and fascia — of an averagesize home for around $500, Ross said.

The company also offers multi-year contracts, and their service includes putting the lights up and taking them down, replacing dead bulbs and ensuring that no damage is done to the home.

“We use shingle tabs and gutter clips to keep the strands of lights straight and suction cups to fit bulbs into around windows,” Ross said. “We really don’t use staple guns or nails or anything to cause permanent damage to the home.”

Choosing lights

Ross said there are basically two sizes of LED lights. There are C9s, which are larger and typically used outdoors, and

smaller mini-lights, primarily displayed inside the home, but can be used on outdoor shrubs and windows.

“Any (LED) Christmas light is rated for outdoor use,” he added.

That said, you should always check the lights when purchasing to ensure they’re fit to use indoors and/or outdoors.

Most LED bulbs will last more than 25,000 hours — almost three years of continuous use — according to most manufacturers.

Remember to be safe

When you’re up on a ladder this holiday season hanging lights, don’t forget to have a spotter. That’s one of a handful of safety tips from Michael Martin, fire marshal at the Topeka Fire Department.

When on a ladder, you should also “watch for overhead lines, especially lines coming into the house,” he advised.

Ross said homeowners hanging lights on taller LIGHTING continues on 7

Michael Martin, fire marshal at the Topeka Fire Department, suggests homeowners inspect their holiday lights before putting them on their homes. Things to look for are frayed wires, broken or cracked sockets and excessive kinking in the lines.

METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION

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Spice up Thanksgiving with new twists You can find templates for the leaves at liagriffith. com.

By Melissa Rayworth The Associated Press

Perhaps more than any other holiday, Thanksgiving is about tradition. The menu and tableware often vary little from year to year, and the day feels as reliable as a cozy sweater.

It can also feel repetitive.

So as you honor tradition, why not bring a dose of fresh style to your Thanksgiving celebration?

As interior designer and HGTV host Vern Yip puts it, just “get to the heart of why those traditions exist and what they’re about.

That opens up a whole new box of decor ideas.”

Here Yip and two other designers — Maxwell Ryan, founder of apartmenttherapy.com, and crafter Lia Griffith, of liagriffith.com — offer advice on creating a memorable Thanksgiving table.

Bring nature in

Summer’s blooms may be a distant memory, but nature can still brighten up your table. Go outside and see what’s available, says Ryan. Collect pine cones, berries, vines and anything else that strikes you as beautiful. Cluster them on the table in different ways, adding other natural items

Feature the food

LIA GRIFFITH VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

Printed recipe cards — designed by crafter Lia Griffith and available for download on her website — add a unique element to the Thanksgiving table and allow guests to go home with a detailed family recipe when the celebration ends. like squash or pumpkins to the mix.

Another natural touch: “Scoop out the middle of an apple in the same shape as a votive,” Ryan says, and then tuck a votive candle into it.

Do this with a half-dozen apples arranged on a dish, then light them. The candle flame warms the apples, releasing their sweet scent.

As long as the top of the candle extends a few centimeters above the edge of

the apple, the tiny flame remains a safe distance from the apple.

Yip suggests lining up tiny topiaries down the center of the table. He asks guests in advance what their wish is for the coming year or what they’re thankful for, and then he writes those words on tiny paper tags attached to the topiaries. This gets guests talking about what’s meaningful to them this Thanksgiving.

Amid all this natural greenery, Griffith points out that you can mix in paper flowers to create a striking centerpiece or napkin rings.

She also suggests cutting an image of a bare tree out of butcher paper and hanging it on the wall. Cut leaves out of colored paper, have kids (or grownups) write what they’re thankful for this year and paste the leaves on the tree branches.

This year, try adding handwritten or typed paper flags or labels to your serving dishes, says Griffith.

Beyond helping guests with food sensitivities or allergies, this lets you draw attention to the history of dishes, the relatives who made them and who contributed them this year.

Consider letting the food take center stage on Thanksgiving, skipping a traditional centerpiece. Try displaying the food at various heights, says Ryan, by using cake stands or wide bowls overturned to serve as pedestals.

And don’t keep dessert hidden. Thanksgiving desserts, he notes, tend to look phenomenal.

“It’s such a shame that these beautiful cakes and pies and cookies are kind of left in the kitchen,” he says.

Displaying them on cake stands in place of flowers or other decorations lets guests enjoy their sight and scent throughout the meal — and serves as a reminder to save room for dessert.

Just be sure, Yip says, that nothing on the table is so tall that it blocks the view of

other guests.

Try fresh colors

If your usual Thanksgiving palette is browns and oranges, try something new this year. Griffith suggests dressing your table in soft shades of purple with accents of metallic copper and gold.

“The metallic trend is so hot right now,” she says, and the warm beauty of purple is a striking backdrop for white china.

Conversation starters

Yip likes to ask guests before Thanksgiving to tell him something special about themselves, and then use that to personalize the table. For instance, he might ask everyone to name one place in the world they’ve always wanted to visit. Then he orders postcards (Yip says they’re easily available online) to decorate each place setting. Guests can find their seat based on the destination, and talk with other guests about their choices.

Or ask everyone for the title of a favorite book, and then place those books on the table in stacks or on each napkin. Each guest can explain why that book resonated with them.

Lighting: Check for frayed wires, broken sockets and excess kinking Continued from 6

homes should take extra precautions.

“The biggest thing is, if they get into hanging lights on twostory homes, if there is a way to use a safety harness, I highly recommend it,” he said.

When it comes to preventing fires, Martin recommends homeowners do a thorough inspection of their lights before

putting them up. Be sure to look for these problems: n Frayed wires. n Broken or cracked sockets. n Excessive kinking in the lines.

While LED lights require less electricity, you still need to be mindful of how many strands of lights you’re stringing together, Martin said. For traditional lights, he advises connecting no more than three to

the same outlet. You can string together more LEDs, but take care to check their ratings as the wattage can vary.

Martin also recommends checking your wires occasionally to ensure they’re not warm to the touch, and even if they are LEDs, never leave them on while you’re sleeping or away from home, noting there can always be an electric shortage that may cause a fire.

“I just don’t think there is any need to have them on when you’re sleeping,” he said.

Christmas tree safety

As for hanging lights on your tree, assuming it’s real, be sure the needles are fresh and green first, and they don’t fall off when you bounce the tree. The needles shouldn’t break if the tree has been freshly cut, Martin

said. The trunk should also be sticky.

Be sure to keep the tree stand filled with water at all times, Martin said, and never place the tree close to a heating source, such as a fireplace or air vent.

The heat will dry the tree out faster.

Lastly, while everyone would love to keep their tree up for a month or more, Martin recommends no more than two weeks.

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Vanity tops allow for easy cleanups

By Ed Del Grande Tribune News Service

Q: Dear Ed: We are installing a new vanity and want to have a vanity top instead of a countertop and a sink. The choice is a little complicated due to all the new styles out there. Can you please give us some vanity top tips?

— John, Kansas

A: Vanity tops are a good choice in general, because the sink and countertop are one self-supporting unit. Designwise, this allows for a sleek look since the sink is a seamless depression in the top itself. The design not only can create a unique-looking sink,

but it also allows for easy cleanups.

The big choice will be picking out the material. Here are four popular materials that I like for vanity tops: ■■Glass: Thick cast glass tops can provide a contemporary look, especially if you install back lighting.

■■Vitreous china: Traditional beauty in an affordable package.

■■Solid surface: Strong manmade composite material available in many different sizes.

■■Enameled cast iron: Elegant while strong, cast iron is also a green material, making it a top choice for a vanity top.

Metal scraper best on stuck-on padding

By Alan J. Heavens The Philadelphia Inquirer

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Vanity tops are a good choice in general, because the sink and countertop are one self-supporting unit.

Q: My parents have a 9-foot-by-12-foot area rug, which is in excellent condition, in their bedroom.

Under the rug is green foam-rubber padding that has become as hard as a rock over the years and has stuck to the hardwood flooring like paint.

I have tried a plastic scraper with no luck. I used a 2-inch-wide metal scraper that removes the rubber but is time-consuming. I have not scratched or marred the hardwood flooring. Is there an easier method?

A: As strange as it seems, when I received your question, I took a look under our living room rug to check the condition of the padding there. Though some of it had crumbled, it wasn’t sticking to the floor.

Checking on the Internet with the usual grain of salt, I discovered that the metalblade scraper was the mosttouted method of removal without scratching, even though it took one woman 26 hours.

She didn’t say whether this was 26 hours at once without a break, or 26 hours over a period of months or years.

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Smelling the burn? Better check your furnace filter

By Paul F.P. Pogue Angie’s List

If you notice a funny burn smell when the heat turns on, it may be a sign that your furnace needs maintenance.

It could be something as minor as a dirty filter, but it could also be a serious problem like a broken electrical component in the furnace. Don’t ignore it. Try to find the source of the odor to avoid costly repairs in the future.

Here are some tips to get you started.

What causes the smell of burning dust?

When your furnace isn’t used for long periods of time, dust can collect on the heat exchange and in the air ducts. When the furnace is turned on, the dust burns off and releases an odor.

This is normal and not a cause for concern. This smell should disappear in a few hours. If the problem persists, check your air filters.

What causes musty odors?

When you turn on your furnace for the first time each year, it may smell like a damp basement or like dirt or dust. The musty odor comes from dust and dirt collecting in the air ducts, which gets blown throughout your home when the furnace turns on. If this smell persists throughout the heating season, it could mean you need to change the air filter.

A musty smell could also indicate that mold is trapped on the furnace filter or on the humidifier filter, if you have one. Inspect the filter once a year and replace or clean as needed.

To clean a humidifier filter, make a so-

TIP OF THE WEEK

Holiday spills Here are some removal solutions for the most common holiday party-related stains: n To get rid of candle wax from a tablecloth, let the wax harden — put it in the freezer for a quick hardening. Scrape the wax off the tablecloth with a dull knife. Place paper towels on both sides of the stain. Set an iron on the warm setting, then iron (no steam) over the stained area. Change the towels often to absorb all of the wax. Launder as usual. n Spoon spilled gravy off tablecloth as quickly as you can. Sprinkle artificial sweetener or flour over the stained area to absorb the grease. Put the tablecloth into a sink and soak in a mixture of 1 teaspoon of a mild, colorless detergent with each cup of lukewarm water for at least 20 minutes. Wash as usual and let air dry.

Source: www.heloise.com/

lution of water and vinegar in equal parts.

Soak the filter in the solution and gently clean with a damp cloth.

What causes an electrical burning smell?

If you notice an odor that smells like burning plastic or burning electrical parts, it could be something simple or something more serious.

A foreign object in your HVAC system’s ductwork could start to smell once it gets overheated. This could be a child’s dropped toy, or an unnoticed spill. Remove your registers and visually inspect them to clean or remove any objects that don’t belong.

It could also be something more serious, such as an overheated furnace motor or cracked heat exchanger. If you can’t locate a foreign object in the ductwork, call an experienced technician to check the electrical components in the furnace.

What causes the smell of smoke or oil?

If you operate an oil furnace and smell oil or smoke, it could mean a serious problem with your furnace.

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